In 1945 the Synod of the Atlantic Provinces acquired 12 acres of land from Mr. Allister Smith. The site was located just outside the village of Merigom-ish on the Northumberland Strait, a short distance from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. The site was ideal for a summer camp; it had a freshwater lake, access to swimming, a building, and an open field. In the summer of 1946, eighty campers made their way to the site for the first camping season under the direction of the Reverend Joseph MacDonald. Later that year the camp was officially named Camp Geddie in honour of Rev. John and Charlotte Geddie, the first Presbyterian international missionaries from Canada who traveled to the New Hebrides in the 1850s.

Camp Geddie did not have cabins during its early years – campers slept in tents while the only buildings on site were the main lodge and a cabin for leaders. Throughout the late 40s and early 50s the camp’s facilities improved considerably: cabins replaced tents, they installed electric power, added flush toilets, and other amenities that modernized the camp. The Margaret MacDougall Lodge was built in 1964, in honour of a Deaconess who worked at Camp Geddie for many years and was director of the camp in 1949, and a recreation hall for crafts and rainy day activities was built in 1971. Throughout the 1980s camper cabins, the nurse’s cabin, and the wash house were all replaced and made wheelchair accessible. Camp Geddie hosts camps for a variety of age groups as well as school groups and retreat groups throughout the years. It is the third largest Presbyterian Camp in Canada and the only Presbyterian camp that is open all year.

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